Chasidut for Exodus 13:17
וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒ וְלֹא־נָחָ֣ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים דֶּ֚רֶךְ אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים כִּ֥י קָר֖וֹב ה֑וּא כִּ֣י ׀ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים פֶּֽן־יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃
And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said: 'Lest the people regret when they see war, and they return to Egypt.’
Mevo HaShearim
In the Midrash Tanhumah,518A collection of midrashim on the Pentateuch. Parshat Shelakh, on the verse “God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines,”519Exodus 13:17. it reads: “The Holy one said: If I lead them on the straightforward path, each man will seize a field or vineyard, and will become unengaged from the Torah. Instead, I will lead them in the path of the desert, and they will eat the manna… and the Torah will reside in their bodies.”520520 Midrash Tanhumah, Beshallakh 1. What will we respond when most avreikhim, upon engaging in his vocation has neither field nor vineyard, may the Merciful One save them? He is greatly enslaved to and preoccupied with his work. Are we not destroying his Torah and certainly his hasidism if he do not give him kest?!
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